MEG Energy's loss widens as Canadian dollar falls

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Canadian oil sands producer MEG Energy
Corp slipped deeper into the red in the fourth quarter
due to an unrealized foreign exchange loss on the conversion of
its U.S. dollar-denominated debt as the Canadian dollar
weakened.

The company said its net loss widened to C$148.2 million, or
67 Canadian cents per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31 from
C$18.7 million, or 9 Canadian cents, a year earlier.

MEG, whose key operations are in the southern Athabasca oil
sands region of Alberta, said it ended 2013 with net debt of
C$2.90 billion.

The Canadian dollar was worth about 94 U.S. cents at the end
of the fourth quarter. The currency finished 2012 at around par
with the U.S. dollar.

MEG reported an operating loss of C$32.7 million, or 15
Canadian cents per share. The company broke even on a per-share
basis a year earlier.

The company said its bitumen production rose 31 percent to
an average 42,251 barrels per day in the fourth quarter.

MEG's shares closed at C$30.03 on the Toronto Stock Exchange
on Wednesday.